The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-03-15
THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, TUESDAY, MARCH 15 1857.

become q despotism. whether its power be
lodged in the hands of one or of MANY.
"A Catholic finds himself at home in the
United States, for the influence of the church
has been constantly exercised in behalf of .indi-
vidual rights ana popular liberties. And the
right minded American nowhere finds himself
more at home than in the Catholic Church, for
nowhere else can he breathe more freely that
atmosphere of divine arIth which alone
make him free"
These significant paragraphs are exponents of
what, in the papal memoirs, is most immediate
~ of moment to Americans, but the bearing of
the work is, of course, more universal. 1t seems
to US, if we may venture interpretation. that
its motive lies in a profound conviction that the
time has come for the church to make special eff
forts to step out of routine, so to say; to chal-
lenge and arrest the progress Of the modern
world, or this immediate epoch of that world,
toward infdelfy. with everything disrupting and
calamitous that infdelity, in the eyes of the
church, must entail. But whatever the purpose
of Leo XIII and his agents, there can be no
question that these memoirs win be read
throughout Christendom with eagerness and re-
spect, and that their aim among great numbers
of persons is not likely to go unaccomplished.
The book promises to be exceedingly hand
some in type, paper binding and embellishments
tho latter. from the specimens we have seen,
being particularly fire. There are among them
several excellent portraits of the Pope, and
many good pictures of celebrated buildings and
interiors of Rome.
The subjoined passage, descriptive of the Holy
Fathers daily life, will be read with universal
interest:
Leo XIII IS an early riser. His valet awakes
him at a stated and early hour The aged priest
has not changed the simple habits Of "a lifetime
because he is Pope. He is soon dressed IN his
ments in alteration at the altar of his private
chapel. Then there is half hour spent IN med
itation or mental prayer some of the great
gospel truths or mysteries. This over, one of his
chaplains recites with him PRIME fierce and sext
the three first morning hours of the canon
ical ofice-and the Holy Father is ready for
mass.
"Perfunctory Leo XIII is in nothing. He is
thorough and thoroughly in earnest in all that
pertains to the work of his subordinates or his
own.
.'And then there is the Cardinal Secretary of
State, aud the terribly difficult and incredibly
delicate work of dealing with the foreign gov
ernments. Look over the entire political and
diplomatic field, and think of the hard and long
battles the Holy Sec has to fight, not only with
non-Catholic courts, but with those that we call
Catholic. All this is matter Of daily, some
times hourly, concern and labor for the Holy
Father.
tHe has to receive ambassadors. archbshops,
bishops, pilgrims. Populations, addresses from
the numerous congresses All this is part of
the working of the living organism of Catholic
L
of the blood in the frame.
go by permission about 10 or IL O'clock in the
morning on the days when the Holy Father
ceives and sit in the throne room for the two
hours before noon, during which audience after
audience is given. You look at Mgr. Macchis
spare and spent figure, and you wonder when
this good prelate finds rest. He seems to be
ever on foot. But his graceful courtesy knows
no change. You look at the Pontiff's own face
and form, and wonder how the lamp Of life is
ted or does not go out in such frail vessel
But only think of the work that one man has
to go through!
'At noon the Pope retires for walk in the
gardens of the Vatican. during the cool season.
In summer this outdoor recreation is, perforce
put off till evening But there are the evening
audiences. too. which are the most numerous.
| the longest and the most wearing. Then it is
that bishops are received to report on the state
! of their dioceses, and that priests who come
with them are granted the favor of an audience.
There are certain occasions when strangers
| are so numerous that private audiences are out
| of the question. Then day is fixed when they
| are admitted by a ticket from Mgr Macchi
TO one of the great halls in the Vatican, and the
! Holy Father passes through their ranks, bless
! ing them and SAYING some kind words in French
| and Italian
"The lamp in the Popes room, in the Vatican
| shining at night when all around is darkness,
| gives forth the lumen in coelo that superna
| light which even now illumines both nemi-
| spheres No such light since St. Peters teaching
and virtues shone in that very spot, confoundine
and appalling the licentious and cruel Mere ever
| shed its spendors on the world from the Sever
Hills Of Rome"